Millenials Fear AI Will Take Their Jobs

Artificial Intelligence is here to stay, just as technology in the greater sense has been for decades. It seems, however, that Millenials are now most afraid they will lose their jobs to AIs.

According to a study published by Smartsheet called State of Automation 2017, 97% of those surveyed believe that automation can improve their workplace, The Next Web reports. That, however, doesn’t mean there is no fear that workers are going ot be replaced. The results came after 1,000 information workers expressed concerns. In order to be considered an “information worker” the people involved in the survey had to be over 18, spend at least half their day at the computer and use at least one category of business software while working.

About 71% of Millenials said they use automation while working, while only 58% of those older than 55 admitted to doing so. Despite the widespread idea that the older generation is more afraid of technology, it was actually 33% of Millenials who feared they would be replaced in the workfield, with 43% indicating that automation will be the reason why their employers find them less valuable.

Mark Mader, Smartsheet CEO said that Millenials are more aware of automation, or they are more likely to work at companies that are early adopters of this type of technologies. “Millenials are also more likely to be fearful of how automation will impact their value to the organization, and of its potential to cause unemployment.

Over the past few decades we’ve seen numerous jobs vanishing due to technology, while others have surfaced. In this growing age of technology and Artificial Intelligence, it has become increasingly important to teach the younger generation about embracing the changes and the technology and learning how to be more flexible in their field of work. This type of technology advancements are clearly not going anywhere and the only thing we can do is learn to adapt to the changing environment.

Moore’s law of exponential growth indicates only that the world around us, the technologies we work with, will only continue to grow at a faster pace, gaining up speed. This is both scary and exciting at the same time.

There are jobs that will never be replaced because there are many things robots and technology can’t help with. Others, however, will, at the very least, change to make room for the help automated systems can give.